Frank Turner isn’t interested in any declarations about rock music being on the ropes.

Scheduled to make his Vans Warped Tour debut Tuesday in Indiana, Turner said he sees rock thrive on a daily basis.

“There seems to be an audience out there for it,” Turner said with a laugh during a phone interview. “I mean, I play shows and people come.”

The English singer-songwriter — who's been described as a "punk rock troubadour" — performed as part of opening ceremonies at the 2012 London Olympics. His 2013 single "Recovery" reached No. 1 of Billboard magazine's Triple A (adult album alternative) radio chart.

It's possible to be a working musician with an international fan base and not be a household name, which is OK with Turner.

"The internet has destroyed the monolithic center of culture in a way that I think is really good," he said.

Freedom to listen to any song at any time is a positive, according to Turner.

"Whenever some aging, out-of-touch rock star turns around and says, ‘Rock music’s dead,’ no one else pays attention and people just get on with life," he said. "You can carry on listening to what you like."

A variety of sounds will be plentiful when Warped makes what is expected to be its final visit to Indiana. Warped founder Kevin Lyman announced this summer as the "final, full cross-country run" for the tour.

Warped debut

Turner will play three dates of this year's Warped: Tuesday at Ruoff, Wednesday in Darien Center, N.Y., and Thursday in Scranton, Pa. "I am glad that I’m getting a swing at it," he said. "I knew what the Warped Tour was all during the time I was growing up. All my favorite bands played it all the time. It was kind of the promised land of touring festivals." The first edition of Warped in 1995 featured punk-influenced acts such as Face to Face, No Doubt, Sublime (one summer before vocalist-guitarist Bradley Nowell died) and Deftones. "I know it’s changed and evolved over the years, but it’s still an iconic thing within the scene I grew up in," Turner said of Warped.

Joan Jett memories

When asked about Joan Jett, Turner recalled sharing two bills with the "Bad Reputation" singer in 2010. Green Day headlined stadium shows in London and Manchester that featured Jett and Turner as supporting acts. "It was kind of a career-changing moment for me, playing to that many people," Turner said.

The making of ‘Be More Kind’

"Be More Kind," Turner's seventh studio album, features new sonic textures when compared to his earlier work. "I spent more time in the studio on this record than I have on any record I’ve made before — probably as much as the previous three records combined," he said. The album was made at Texas studio Niles City Sound with producers Austin Jenkins and Joshua Block (former members of the band White Denim). Known for rave-ups centered on his voice and acoustic guitar, Turner said it was wise to be deliberate with "Be More Kind's" experiments. "If you are trying to branch out into new territory, I don’t want to fall flat on my face doing that," he said. "I was double-checking that the bits that had loops and synthesizers or whatever weren’t (bad)."

Marching in London

"Be More Kind" includes a song titled "Make America Great Again," which borrows President Trump's slogan and amends it with suggestions to make "racists ashamed again" and to make "compassion in fashion again." Turner made a video to accompany the song in which he wore a stars-and-stripes bow tie and asked South By Southwest attendees to write "the greatest things about America" on a whiteboard. "I genuinely do try to bear in mind that I’m not an American and that when I talk about American politics I do so from an observer’s status," Turner said. "I also make a distinction between people who voted for someone and that person themselves." Having said that, Turner adds that he marched in the London protests of Trump on July 13. "I think the Helsinki summit was a catastrophe for the prospects of a free and peaceful world. I’m utterly horrified by that," he said. "It was worth going down to express disdain for the man."